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Friday, 21 November 2014

Country Billboard Chart News November 20, 2014

Country Billboard Chart
News November 20, 2014

Billboard, Changing the Album Charts: Will Count Streaming Services

Billboard and
Nielsen SoundScan, the agency that supplies its data, will start
adding streams and downloads of tracks to the formula behind the Billboard
200, which, since 1956 has functioned as the music world’s weekly
scorecard.

It is the biggest change since 1991, when the magazine began using hard sales data from SoundScan, a
revolutionary change in a music industry that had long based its charts on
highly fudgeable surveys of record stores.

The new chart, covering
sales and listening from
Monday to Nov. 30, will be revealed on Billboard’s website on Dec. 4 and
published in print in its Dec 13, 2014 issue.

Silvio
Pietroluongo, Billboard’s director of charts, said that by looking at
streams as well as sales, the new chart will more accurately reflect how
people listen to music these days.

“We were always
limited to the initial impulse, when somebody purchased an album,” Mr.
Pietroluongo said in an interview. “Now we have the ability to look at that
engagement and gauge the popularity of an album over time.”

One expected
result is that albums by big pop stars — which tend to open high on the chart
and then plunge after just a few weeks — should linger longer in the upper
rungs. Ariana Grande’s “My
Everything,” for example, which opened at No.1 in September, was No.36 on last
week’s chart, with 10,000 sales. Under the new formula, it would have been
No.9.

SoundScan and
Billboard will count 1,500 song streams from services like Spotify, Beats Music,
Rdio, Rhapsody and Google Play as equivalent to an album sale.

For the first
time, they will also count “track equivalent albums” — a common industry
yardstick of 10 downloads of individual tracks — as part of the formula for
album rankings on the Billboard 200.

“Album sales
have become a smaller and smaller part of the industry,” said David Bakula, a
senior analyst at Nielsen. “To just look at album sales and say this is how we
measure success is really leaving out that half of the business that is coming
from streams and song sales.”

"Including
streaming information is the next step in the evolution of the industry's
accurate measurement of music consumption," said Jim Urie, president/CEO of
Universal Music Distribution. "Streaming is the fastest growing
configuration we now have and having it included in Billboard's chart is a
welcome improvement."

Taylor Swift’s
“1989,” the biggest hit album of the year, was withheld from Spotify and other
streaming outlets, and two weeks ago, it still opened at No.1 with nearly 1.3
million sales, the biggest weekly total for any album in 12 years. On the
latest chart, released by Billboard on Wednesday, “1989” holds at No. 1 for a
third week, with 312,000.

While the Billboard
200 will be taking on a whole new look, Billboard will continue to publish a pure album sales chart,
called Top Album Sales, that will maintain the traditional Billboard 200
methodology, comprising Nielsen's sales data exclusively. Existing genre
album charts (Country,
R&B/Hip-Hop, etc.) will also remain sale-based for the time being.

Taking into account streaming for singles seemed
OK but using it to determine the album chart sounds messy?

Older people don't stream/ consume music as much
as teenagers as they are not obsessed with mobile phones and apps and don't
get glued to computers streaming everything 24/7.

The music industry seem more interested in how
people consume music rather than buying it and flag up the trendy mainstream
artists with high streaming figures.

The music industry is not going to gross as much
money than with hard retail CD sales. Are they trying to hide the fact
that albums sales have dropped significantly in 2014 (Country music album
sales have been as low as 25% and now recovering to a 17% deficit compared
to 2013).

Just how hard will it be to see the pure raw genre
album sales to actually see how many were sold at retail? This new Billboard 200 chart will no longer be a
chart that exclusively looks at weekly album sales which it has been since 1955.

Is it
the start of a slippery slope to abolish CDs?

Just how will the system be applied to RECORDING
INDUSTRY ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA (RIAA) Gold & Silver album certifications?
We’ve already seen singles in 2014 granted Platinum status even though
they are some 175,000 short at retail to actually selling a million
because of streaming data included. Example: The Miranda
Lambert and Carrie Underwood
duet "Somethin' Bad" was recently officially certified as a PLATINUM Digital Single by the RIAA. "Somethin'
Bad" was certified for hitting the one million mark for combined
downloads and online streams. It had actually sold 826,619 downloads at retail not 1
million!

In this easy-to-use format
discover where your favourite acts songs and album are charting across the four
Billboard Country charts. It is prioritized by the first column showing the Hot
Country Songs chart frame standings for the week of November 29, 2014.

There are also separate rows
highlighting Women of Country music.

Scroll down for further
details on each of the individual charts.

Billboard Top
200 / Country Album Chart News

Taylor Swift with her 1989 POP album spent a third
consecutive week at No.1 on the Billboard
Top 200 Album chart (BB200), making it only the second album to spend three

weeks atop the list in 2014. Only the Frozen soundtrack, which racked 13
nonconsecutive weeks at No.1, spent longer at the top.

1989 sold 312,000 copies (*) in the week ending
Nov.16, down 22% in its third frame compared to the previous week haul of 401,599
according to Nielsen SoundScan.

* The SoundScan
chart was re-run after they found errors in it. A previous figure for Taylor of
305,791 (3 week total of 1,994,151) was earlier published and other sales and
chart postions were later upgraded.

It's the first
album to sell more than 300,000 copies in its first three weeks since Beyonce's
self-titled effort in December 2013. Beyonce debuted at No. 1 with 617,000
(from only three days of sales), then spent a second (374,000) and third week
(310,000) at No. 1.

After 3 weeks 1989's
total sales now stand at 2,000,000.
It continues to rank as 2014's second-largest-selling album, behind the Frozen
soundtrack (3.25 million). They are the only two albums to sell a million
copies in 2014.

Comparison to
her last album RED’s first 5 weeks sales

1 Week 1,208,290

2 Week 344,249
(-72%)

3 Week 196,225
(-43%)

4 Week 144,534
(-26%)

5 Week 185,391
(+28%) ------- Total 2,078,997

In total, Swift
has spent 27 cumulative weeks at No.1 with her four chart-topping albums. That
puts her ahead of Barbra Streisand on the list of women with the most weeks at No.
1. Among leading ladies, Whitney Houston has the most (46 weeks), followed by
Mariah Carey (30), Swift (27) and Streisand (26).

It's unlikely
that Taylor will hold onto the No.1 next week as UK boy band One Direction's album
Four arrives predicted to shift over
420,000 in the week ending Nov. 23, according to industry forecasters.

Taylor Swift also
made history on the Billboard Hot 100, where her single "Blank Space"
blasted from No.13 to No.1 (19.2 million US streams). As the song dethroned her
prior smash, "Shake It Off," after four weeks atop the chart, Swift
becomes the first woman in the Hot 100's 56-year history to succeed herself at
the top spot and is the only artist with two Hot 100 No.1s in 2014.

"Space," released on Big Machine
Records and promoted to radio by Republic Records, takes over at No. 1
following the Nov. 10 release of its official video. With her coronation, Swift
tallied her third Hot 100 No.1, following "Shake" (which falls to No.
3) and 2012's three-week leader "We Are Never Ever Getting Back
Together."

Of note: Pink Floyd collected its 10th top 10
album on the Billboard 200 chart, as its new release, THE ENDLESS RIVER, sailed
in at No.3. It sold 168,373 copies and also debuted at No.2 on Top Rock Albums.
The album is the band's first collection of new studio recordings since 1994's
The Division Bell, which debuted at No.1 (with 465,000 sales). The new set was
assembled from music that originated during the Division Bell sessions and is
advertised as a tribute to the band's Richard Wright, who died in 2008.

Strictly back to
country matters superstar Garth Brooks made a debut at No.4 on the Billboard
200 to land No.1 on Billboard Top
Country Albums selling 130,000 physical
copies (* 118,370 previously published) of MAN
AGAINST MACHINE, his first studio album in 13 years.

It’s Brooks’ and his
fourth consecutive #1 album debut and his 14th leader on Top Country Albums.
His last new studio album was 2001's SCARECROW (released on Nov 13, 2001),
debuted at No.1 on both charts with 466,000 sales (Last noted total 2,946,000).

"People
Loving People" was released as Man Against Machine's lead single on
September 3, 2014 which peaked at #19 on Billboard Country Airplay chart (His
last a top 10 airplay hit was 2007’s No. 1 “More Than a Memory”).

In the UK on the
Official 100 Album chart Garth’s new setregistered with a debut at No.23 (7,608 sales)

“Man Against
Machine” was notably unavailable through digital retailers (such as iTunes and
Amazon). The whole album had be bought digitally via Brooks' own GhostTunes website, which did not
report sales of the album to SoundScan.

The new album
earned Brooks his softest start for a studio set in the SoundScan era.
He logged his previous low when Ropin’ the Wind bowed at No.1 with 300,000 in
1991. (If “In … the Life of Chris Gaines” is included as a studio project that
shifted 262,000 in 1999)

Last year on the
chart frame Dec 14, 2013Garth made a bow at No.3 on the BB200 with Blame It All On My Roots: Five Decades Of
Influences (sales 163,604) and was held off the
No.1 by One Direction's MIDNIGHT MEMORIES. He land on Top Country Albums
at #1 when he displaced The Robertsons' Duck The Halls: A Robertson Family
Christmas. That his 13th #1 album was released on
Thanksgiving Day (Thursday, Nov. 28). It was a massive, eight-disk set,
a Walmart exclusive, consists of six CDs and two DVDs.

“Blame It All On My Roots”
went on to sell 1-million copies. It’s first seven Billboard postions/sales
were:

Currently on his
world tour with Trisha Yearwood, Garth continues to shatter records- recently
breaking his North American ticket sales record for a single city with 203,235
tickets sold from eleven shows at the Target Center in Minneapolis, the most
tickets he has ever sold for a single city in North America.

Garth’s new
single off Man Against Machine, the moving tribute “Mom,” debuted on Good Morning America earlier this month and has
since set off a chain reaction on social media from fans hoping to hear “Mom”
on Country Radio. “Mom” will impact country radio on November 24th.

Entertainment Weekly (Rating: B+) ...Thirteen
years after his last LP, the country superstar returns with Man Against
Machine, an album brimming with arena-size anthems, glossy production, and
intimate storytelling. His sound hasn't changed much, but somehow Man doesn't
feel dated. In fact, the likes of ''Wrong About You'' and ''All-American Kid''
are just what bro-soaked country radio's been missing.

Allmusic (Rating: 3.5 Stars) ..his first record in 13 years. Brooks never
denies the passing years anywhere on Man Against Machine -- he never attempts
to pour himself into skinny jeans so he can strut to an electronic beat, he
never seems like a grinning bro next door as he embraces his middle age -- but
he doesn't necessarily take pains to fit into the times,

either. From its beefy
arena rock arrangements to its preponderance of power ballads, this is an album
constructed from remnants of the

golden age of the diamond album, a
cross-demographical blockbuster that's now a bit of accidental narrowcasting.
This is for audiences who wish they made country records like they used to --
not when Hank, Willie, or Waylon were on the radio, but when arena country
meant something to millions...There are no surprises, but that's what's welcome
about Man Against Machine. Brooks doesn't try to do anything differently; he
just picks up where he left off and the time away has only made it clearer how
he's different from all that came before and all that came since.

Billboard(Rating: 3.5 STARS)....The
resulting 14-track LP, released Tuesday on his website GhostTunes.com, is not
overtly commercial -- first single "People Loving People" peaked at
No. 19 on the Country Airplay chart -- but is full of substantive songs that
resonate. Once accused of diluting country by infusing his live show (and later
his music) with rock elements, he has made one of the most country-sounding albums
of the year: See the fiddle-led ballad "All American Kid" about a
returning soldier, as well as "Mom," a gentle
heart-tugger......Brooks doesn't do half measures, as evident on the title
track, screeching guitar-rock in which he rails against technology by
referencing folklore hero John Henry, who died in a steam drill competition
against a machine. But it's the dramatic tunes about love gone bad that stand
out. On the flinty "Cold Like That," Brooks, whose vocals are stellar
throughout the LP, wishes he could adopt the iciness of his ex-lover. The
emotional weight of "Midnight Train," a chugging ballad about an
inescapable lost love, rivals closer "Tacoma," an organ-drenched tune
about trying to outrun a memory. A rowdy, vintage-Brooks-style slam-dunk like
"Friends in Low Places" or "Fever" is missing here, but
that's a small complaint for such a solid return.

Rollingstone (Rating: 3.5 STARS) ...Y'all counted out Chris Gaines, but after
13 years, Garth Brooks returns with one of the year's best accidental rock
albums. There's no Auto-Tune to smooth his rusty voice, so it's more weathered
and honest than the man who left the spotlight. The lyrics play like a sly spin
on classic Garth: On "She's Tired of Boys," he's on the other side of
the May-December romance from 1992's "That Summer," and the woman
doesn't lose her man to the "Rodeo" – she herself rides. With ripping
guitar solos, Aerosmith-style strings and gospel-tinged background vocals, this
is a record that could take Eric to Church.

New York Daily
News (Rating: 2 STARS) Garth
Brooks waited 13 years to release “Man Against Machine.” He should have waited
longer.... Brooks does includes a zippy nod to

Western swing in “Romeo &
Juliet,” plus a few soggy ballads, but most of the music suggests Journey gone
Nashville. The lyrics also circle the wagons, settling on eye-glazing tales of
football heroes gone to war, men who realize it’s more fulfilling to fish than
to climb the corporate ladder, and piercing realizations like “the answer lies
in people loving people.” The album reaches a gag-me peak with “Mom,” a song
sung from the point of view of a

baby reluctant to leave the womb — until
God himself talks the kid into taking the plunge. I am not making this up.
There’s one clever, fresh and catchy piece, “She’s Tired of Boys.” Here, a
young girl kicks her far older lover to the curb for being too immature. A song
like this proves Brooks actually can think and write. If he would only do it
more often.

George Strait with THE COWBOY RIDES AWAY moved 60-11 on the BB200 (#16-#2 Country) selling 30,000 copies (up 309%) as fans waited
patiently to get their hands on the Deluxe release of the CD with a DVD of the
special which aired on CMT earlier this year. This deluxe edition is only
available at Walmart stores.

Zac Brown Band with GREATEST HITS SO FAR made a debut at No.20 on the BB200 (#5 Country) with 19,974 copies sold for the
14 song collection of nothing but hit singles (11 of them #1 singles). The
album is the band’s final for Atlantic Records. Their next album will be issued
through Universal Republic/Big Machine Label Group’s Dot Records.

Allmusic (Rating: 4.5 Stars) ...it rounds up the 14 singles the Zac Brown
Band released between 2008 and 2013, presenting them in chronological order and
containing no bonus material. There are a lot of hits here -- "Chicken
Fried," "Toes," "Highway 20 Ride," "Free,"

"As She's Walking Away," "Colder Weather," "Knee
Deep," and "Keep Me in Mind" all hit number one on Billboard's
country charts, and most of the rest made it into the Top 10 -- and when
they're combined in a collection, the overall effect is to push ZBB away from
their (deserved) jam band associations and into the realm of sturdy craftsmen.
Brown and his chief co-writer Wyatt Durette have a knack for full-blooded yet
sensitive melodies reminiscent of the golden age of singer/songwriters, with
many of the best songs ("Colder Weather," "As She's Walking
Away") bearing an uncanny (and possibly unintended) similarity to the
terrific and obscure songsmith B.W.Stevenson, along with James Taylor. This
means Greatest Hits So Far underscores the band's timeless qualities: in
addition to being a great live band, they're a hell of a singles band, too,
creating songs that withstand hundreds of plays.

Darius Rucker with HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS continues to picked up sales with
Thanksgiving and Christmas on the horizon.

He moved to
39-31 on the BB200 and jumped up to No.7 Country. Sales were up 10% selling 10,900 copies for a new 3-week total of
29,743. It could be 2014s Country Christmas album of the season with a
challenge coming soon from Sara Evans (AT CHRISTMAS out Nov 17) but seemingly
untroubled by the cappella country act Home Free at (#49) whose album FULL OF CHEER
opened with 6,108 copies (#14 Country) before slipping down the chart, The
ABC Nashville cast
holiday set CHRISTMAS WITH NASHVILLE(7,529 sold in 2 weeks) and LeAnn Rimes whose album has flopped after making a lowly debut 2 weeks ago at #47 Country selling just 1,000 copies of One Christmas: Chapter One.

In their second
week on the Country chart The Doobie Brothers with
SOUTHBOUND (Arista Nashville) slipped 7-15 (6,000 sales; down 63%)

After last weeks
sales boost for many who performed at the Nov 5th 48th Annual CMA Awards there
was a marked reduction a further week on with Miranda Lambert’s album of the year PLATINUM (sales down 61%) typical of the corrections.

* The SoundScan
chart was re-run after they found errors in it. A previous figure for Garth
Brooks of 118,370 was earlier published and other sales
(eg George Strait 27,314 was upgraded to 30,000) and
chart postions were later ammended.

Billboard Catalog Albums Chart(week of November 29, 2014)

Garth Brooks (sales up 13%) replaced Johnny Cash’sThe Legend Of Johnny Cash (1-4) atop the Country Catalog Album chart. All
of the Top 10 also appeared on the Billboard 200 albums. Some of the
former Christmas releases are now starting to impact the chart.

It logged 47.179 million audience impressions, a
gain of +2.450 million and received 7,453
radio plays (+366) during the tracking week. The song written by Jaren Johnston
and Luke Laird was first released by Warner Bros. Nashville on April 14, 2014

as the second
single from Ballard's second studio album, SUNSHINE & WHISKEY which debuted
and peaked at No. 5 on Top Country Albums on March 1. The song has sold 525,000
downloads (through the week ending Nov. 9) reaching No.9 on Billboard’s Country
Digital Songs chart.

He rang the top
bell two weeks faster than in his first trip to the summit; “Helluva Life”
reigned in its 35th week (March 29). Ballard becomes the first artist to score
two maiden No.1s in 2014 and one of seven acts overall to score multiple No.1s
on the Nielsen BDS-driven chart this year. He joins Luke Bryan, Blake Shelton
(three each), Jason Aldean, Lady Antebellum, Dierks Bentley and Florida Georgia
Line (two each).

Top local
audience exposure for “Sunshine” during the tracking week ending Nov. 16:

“I’m so grateful
to be here at the top again! We’re still celebrating ‘Helluva Life’ and now
we’re back… I’m feeling VERY blessed! This is what you dream of and work for
and I’m so grateful to Country Radio for playing my music and the fans for
supporting me,” shared Ballard. Ballard will celebrate with fans nationwide on
his first headlining trek – LIGHT ‘EM UP Tour – as part of the exclusive Live
Nation Ones To Watch tour with Skype. The run stops in 19-cities through
December with upcoming shows in Houston, TX (11/19), New Orleans, LA (11/20),
and San Antonio, TX (11/21).

Ballard is
basking in the success of “Sunshine & Whiskey” after making the move to
Nashville in 2009 from Battle Creek, MI, to pursue music. Drawing on his
working class values, he performed every chance he could and honed in his
guitar and songwriting skills. He steadily built a loyal fan base and took the
time to grow as an artist and an individual.

Previously
opening for Jake Owen, Rascal Flatts, Kenny Chesney, Taylor Swift and longtime
idol Bob Seger, the talented showman will amp it up even further next year on
the Florida Georgia Line 2015 ANYTHING GOES Tour. (Source Sweet Talk Publicity)

Brad Paisley nabbed
his 32nd Country Airplay top 10 with “Perfect
Storm” (Arista Nashville), which sports 30.2 million impressions and
improved 11-9. At 12 weeks,
“Storm” marks Paisley’s quickest top 10 ascent since “Beat This Summer”
rose 10-7 in its ninth frame on May 11, 2013. His quickest rise to the
region: five weeks, for “Then” (May 2, 2009).

Luke Bryan bagged Most Increased Audience and Most Added stripes with “I See You” (Capitol Nashville) and rocketed 43-28. It logged 9.138 million
audience impressions (up 239%), a gain of +6.442 million and received 1,440 radio plays (+1,068) thanks
to 45 fresh radio commitments
(ADDS). Jason Aldean’s “Just Gettin’ Started” (Broken Bow) also drew 45
new airplay commitments, although Bryan’s title shows first in the Most
Added column, as ties are broken by the total number of stations added;
Bryan’s track scored adds at 64 stations, while Aldean’s single did so at
63.

Blake Shelton featuring
Ashley Monroe
with "Lonely Tonight"
snagged the Hot Shot Debut honour making a No.38 bow. As a featured singer
Ashley nearly matched her best rank on Country Airplay. It was just shy of
Monroe’s best, a No.37 peak with “I Don’t Want To” (featuring Ronnie Dunn)
on the Feb. 3, 2007 chart. The new song marked her best debut (in her
fourth chart appearance). As one-third of Pistol Annies, Monroe ruled the
June 29, 2013 chart as a featured act on Shelton’s “Boys ’Round Here.”
(Shelton’s “Neon Light” dropped 1-4 after a week atop Country Airplay.)

Women of
Country 2014 Watch:

There were two solo
female artists on the Top 30 Country Airplay songs with Carrie Underwood’s
“Something In The Water” at No.12 and RaeLynn’s “God Made Girls” falling 22-21.
“Girl In A Country Song” by duo Maddie & Tae climbed one 6-5.

Jana Kramer #34,
Kelsea Ballerini #47, Lindsay Ell #51, Sara Evans #59 and Lucy Hale #60 and
were the additional five solo females in the remaining 31-60 slots, to make it
11.3% of the entire Top 60 chart.

Carrie Underwood remained at No.1 atop the summit of the Billboard Country Digital
Singles for a second week with Tim McGraw with “Shotgun Rider” again in the runner up position. On the
allgenre Digital Songs Carrie fell 8-16 in her 8th week and Tim slipped
back 24-28 in his fourth chart frame. That chart is headed by Taylor Swift as “Blank Space”
moved 2-1 with sales of 328,000 (647,000 3-week total) as her lead off hit
“Shake It Off” fell 3-5 93,000 sales (2,842,000 12-week total).

Women Of Country Watch

Carrie Underwoodwith “Something
In The Water” at No.1 and RaeLynn (20-15)with“God Made
Girls” and Jessie
James Deckerwith “Baby! It’s
Christmas” represent the three solo female
artists on the Top 50 placings.

Dropping off the Top 30:

21 - Off the Top 50 Miranda Lambert & Little Big
Town “Smokin’ And Drinkin’”

25-31 Lee Brice “I Don’t Dance”

27-32 Blake Shelton & Ashley Monroe “Lonely
Tonight”

28-48 Chase Rice “Ready Set Roll”

29 - Off the Top 50 The Band Perry “Gentle On My Mind”

Top 30 Digital Singles in Country Music
(published November 20, 2014)

(LW) Last Week (TW) This Week

*Numbers are
rounded to nearest 1000th

Country Aircheck MEDIABASE Chart

Frankie Ballard moved 2-1 to land No1 on
Mediabase with “Sunshine & Whiskey” (Warner Bros./WAR). The song logged 7,720 radio spins (+428) and 55.674 million audience

impressions
(+2.272 million) from 149 tracking stations for the tracking week November 9 to
November 16, 2014 and published chart November 17th.

Congratulations
to Warner Bros./W.A.R. VP/Promotion
Chris Palmer, Dir./National Tom Martens and the entire W.A.R. promo staff on
scoring this week's #1 spot on the MEDIABASE Country singles chart with Frankie
Ballard’s “Sunshine & Whiskey.” "The song makes for Frankie's second
#1 single in a row, following "Helluva Life" which went #1 in March.

Sweet treats were
due to be delivered to the WAR office (Nov 17th) to congratulate the staff on
their success

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